Nautes

# Installation

Nautes supports installation on public cloud, private cloud, hosts, and Kubernetes clusters. This document uses Alibaba Cloud as an example to describe the process of installing Nautes on a public cloud.

# Prepare the Environment

  • Installation machine: An AMD64 architecture Linux server, with Docker (opens new window), Git, and Bash pre-installed, and ensure that the /opt/nautes directory is not occupied.
  • Public cloud access key: An access key for an Alibaba Cloud account. If you are using a RAM user, make sure the RAM user has AliyunECSFullAccess and AliyunVPCFullAccess permissions. For more information, refer to Create AccessKey (opens new window).

The installer will call Alibaba Cloud's API to apply for resources, which will incur some costs (please refer to Alibaba Cloud Cost Description).

Due to Alibaba Cloud's billing rules restrictions, please ensure that the Alibaba Cloud account balance is more than 100 RMB, otherwise the installation program cannot call Alibaba Cloud's API to apply for resources.

# Execute the Installation

The installer needs to retrieve relevant configurations (such as images) from GitHub. Please ensure the network connection between the installation machine and GitHub is stable.

Create configuration file for installer.

cat <<EOT >> vars.yaml
access_key: < your alicloud access key >
secret_key: < your alicloud secret key >
EOT

Run the following command for default installation.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nautes-labs/installer/main/installer.sh | bash -

or

curl -OL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nautes-labs/installer/main/installer.sh
chmod +x installer.sh
./installer.sh

By default, install a single-node K3s. Depending on the public network bandwidth of the installation machine, the entire installation process is expected to take 15~25 minutes. After the installation is successful, you can find the installed component information in the /opt/nautes directory. If the installation fails, you can troubleshoot issues through the logs in the /opt/nautes/out/logs directory.

If you encounter any problems during the installation process, please refer to the FAQ.

# Check the Installation Results

/opt/nautes/flags stores the identification files of the installation progress. The installer will skip completed installation steps according to the identification files.

/opt/nautes/terraform stores the terraform state file, which records the list of resources applied for by the installation program on Alibaba Cloud.

/opt/nautes/out stores information about the installed components:

  • GitLab is used to store the tenant configuration repository, user application source code, deployment manifests, pipeline configurations, etc. GitLab's administrator password and tenant configuration repository access information are stored in the gitlab subdirectory.
  • Vault is used to store and manage tenant secret data. Vault's unseal key and root token are stored in the vault subdirectory.
  • Kubernetes clusters are used to host all management components of the tenant. The cluster's kubeconfig is stored in the kubernetes subdirectory.
  • ArgoCD is used to watch to the tenant configuration repository and synchronize the tenant configuration to the Kubernetes cluster according to the configuration declarations in the repository. ArgoCD's administrator password is stored in the argocd subdirectory.
  • Dex provides a unified authentication service based on the OIDC protocol. Dex's client secret is stored in the kubernetes subdirectory.

In addition, related information in other subdirectories under /opt/nautes/out:

  • hosts: IP addresses and access keys of the cloud server.
  • PKI: Certificates that are used to access the components and the CA that issues certificates.
  • service: Access addresses for the tenant management cluster, Dex, ArgoCD, Vault, GitLab, and Nautes API Server.
  • logs: Installation program logs.

The relative path of the Nautes API Server's Swagger UI documentation is: /q/swagger-ui.

Tenant configuration repository is used for storing configuration information related to tenant management. Each tenant has a tenant configuration repository.

# Destroy the Environment

Please make sure the /opt/nautes directory has not been deleted on the installation machine, and under the directory where the destroy command is executed, there is a configuration file for the installation program called vars.yaml.

The uninstallation program will remove all resources applied from the cloud service, and it does not currently support uninstalling components individually.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nautes-labs/installer/main/installer.sh | bash -s destroy

or

./installer.sh destroy

# Alibaba Cloud Cost Description

The default specifications of the cloud server applied by the installer are as follows:

  • Region: China Hong Kong - Availability Zone B
  • Image: Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit
  • Instance Specification: ecs.c6.large (2C4G)
  • System Disk: ESSD Cloud Disk PL0 40G
  • Network: Public IP
  • Number: 2
  • Usage: K3s, Vault
  • Region: China Hong Kong - Availability Zone B
  • Image: Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit
  • Instance Specification: ecs.g5.large(2C8G)
  • System Disk: ESSD Cloud Disk PL0 40G
  • Network: Public IP
  • Number: 1
  • Usage: GitLab

The installer uses the Preemptible Instance Mode (opens new window) to create cloud servers by default, which carries the risk of instances being automatically released. If you prefer a more stable environment, please add the following configuration to vars.yaml to switch to the Pay-As-You-Go Mode (opens new window) for resources apply.

alicloud.save_money: false

The cost estimates for the two billing modes are as follows (excluding traffic fees):

  • Pay-As-You-Go: ￥ 56.1 pre Day
  • Preemptible Instance: ￥ 13.5 pre Day

The actual costs incurred may be affected by market price fluctuations, and the above estimates are for reference only.

# Custom installation

# Use a specified version of the installer image

Before installation, set the environment variable INSTALLER_VERSION.

export INSTALLER_VERSION=vX.Y.Z

# Use a specified tenant configuration repository template

Before installation, add the following configuration to the vars.yaml file.

repos.tenant_template.url: https://github.com/nautes-labs/tenant-repo-template.git
repos.tenant_template.version: main

# Use standard K8s

Before installation, add the following configuration to the vars.yaml file.

deploy.kubernetes.type: k8s
deploy.kubernetes.node_num: 3

# Complete parameter list

Please refer to vars.yaml.sample (opens new window).

# FAQ

During the installation process of Nautes, the step [init-host : Create instance] encounters errors: code: 403, The resource is out of stock in the specified zone. How should this be resolved?

The installer defaults to using the Preemptible Instance Mode (opens new window) to create cloud servers of specified instance types.

If the cloud servers of the default instance types are out of stock, the above error will occur.

Look for the instance name after in resource "alicloud_instance" in the error message, such as gitlab, kubernetes, or vault.

To resolve this issue, according to the instance name, you can add the corresponding parameter in the vars.yaml file as needed to change the default instance type of the cloud server. After changing the vars.yaml file, you should destroy the environment, and then re-execute the installer.

# The following parameter values are only suggested instance types.
# You can change the instance type to other types with specifications not lower than the suggested instance types.
# The cloud server instance type for GitLab
gitlab_instance_type: ecs.g6.large
# The cloud server instance type for Kubernetes
kubernetes_instance_type: ecs.c5.large
# The cloud server instance type for Vault
vault_instance_type: ecs.c5.large

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